To obey, or to not obey

Hannah Badger

Short Story, Fiction

Word Count: 1,063

Approx. Reading Time: 4 minutes

Nikolai is sitting at his desk, facing the windows looking outside rather than his door. His desk and file cabinets are organized and neat, the staple is perfectly placed next to a stack of mission reports which are next to his many pens and his computer. The door opens, Natalia walks in and throws her mission report on the desk, tosses her messenger bag on the floor, and then unceremoniously sits down and puts her feet up on the desk. Thomas follows her in, he picks up her mission report and stacks both his and hers neatly in the center of the desk, then he sits down, he maintains his perfect posture and sets his bag across his lap. The director spins his chair around to face them, and he begins skimming the reports.

“I see the Moscow mission was a success.” He sets the files back down. “What’s changed since your failure in Kosovo? I thought you said missions like these weren’t made to succeed?”

Thomas leans forward, picking at a loose thread on his bag. “Well, you see… um... In order to succeed we had to... kind of… sort of… go slightly against our orders and bend the rules just a little bit?”

Natalia scoffs. “Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes won’t tell you how it is, but I will. We’ve been trained again and again to follow orders exactly as their given, to not adapt or anything. We did exactly as our training taught us in Kosovo. That’s why we failed. That’s why the Federation of Evil found out we were there. That’s why F.O.E. executed every single hostage in the building. People died because we weren’t allowed to adapt to the mission we were on, we’re not allowed to change plans. People died because we were being good little agents, doing what we’re told and nothing else.”

“Natalia- “, Thomas starts.

Natalia cuts him off by putting her hand up, she takes her feet off the desk, yet she stays leaned back, “Meanwhile, when we were in Moscow, we didn’t stick to our orders entirely, instead we adapted as the situation changed, because when you give us the plan, you assume that F.O.E. will be as predictable as you think, but they’re not. People are unpredictable, they changed what they’re doing all the time. If we want to be successful in our missions, we have to be able to change to match our opponents. And right now, the only way we get to alter the mission plan is by disobeying orders and doing as we please. You want us to do as well as we did in Moscow, let us have more freedom in what we do.”

“Natalia...” Nikolai lets out a breath and pinches the bridge of his nose while pushing his glasses up further in the process. “You know my hands are practically tied when it comes to changing how the agency goes about its business. I’d have to go through several channels, there are many politics that you don’t know about when it comes to things like this. I could try and change things like you want, but by the time it gets all the way through and is approved, it still won’t be what you want because I’ll have to people-please and change it into something else. Besides, how will I convince anyone it’s a good idea when the only proof I have is your two missions and the fact that your disobedience is the only reason we know having flexibility might work?” He pauses. “Natalia, I understand how you feel, but I don’t think my help is what you really want. Because my help won’t give you the outcome you want and there’s a very real chance that whether it does or does not fulfill your want for freedom, I’d most likely have to fire both of you for being so disobedient.”

“Hey, I mean, yeah, we’d like more freedom, but we definitely don’t want to be fired. Right, Natalia? This isn’t worth losing our jobs over, right?” Thomas looks to Natalia despite knowing what she thinks.

She shakes her head, “If we have to lose our jobs to make it so our colleagues can do theirs better, then so be it. Who are we to limit the potential of this agency with our own selfish desire to keep our jobs? Besides, I think that you’ll need us again, if you’re able to make changes, to make what we’re asking a reality, then you’ll want us again and we’ll want to be here again. Our hardships will be worth it in the end. To quote Nelson Mandela, “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.” So, if the only way for you to even try to make change happen, is for you to fire us, and for you to jump through many political hoops to get there, I think it’s well worth it. I think agents having more freedom on the field is worth the effort and the struggles we’ll all have to endure to get there, because without that freedom, every mission will turn out like Kosovo did, and if every mission ends with so much slaughter...” She stands from her seat. “Then, what might I ask is this agency meant to do? Who are we protecting? Because to me, it seems like our restrictions and limits aren’t letting us protect anyone!”

Thomas follows her lead, getting to his feet as well. “Not that I particularly want to lose my job, but Natalia’s right. If we don’t get such changes, then why do I want this job anyway? I chose to be an agent because I wanted to rise up the ranks enough to be a hero, to save as many people as I could while stopping as many bad things as I could. If I fail every mission because that’s what protocol says I must do, then I don’t want to try. “

Natalia and Thomas both place their badges on the desk, grab their things, and head for the door.

Nikolai yells after them, “Fine! I’ll do my best, but I make absolutely no promises!” he pauses, “And, don’t come back unless I say you can!”

They both nod, then exit.

Published: 20:00 ET, Friday, 23rd September, 2022